I would assume it’s a rite carried on by children who are deemed “worthy” or compatible. But most drugs in substantial quantities regularly will cripple a child’s developing brain. So I suppose, it depends on what really is in that mason’s jar.

Earlier in the chapter, Feather mentioned that Gene’s birth was difficult and that she didn’t give in and call doctors. She mentioned his foot being blue. He may have suffered from oxygen deprivation and incurred brain damage at that point.

Not that I would call EITHER of these practices ethical, particularly considering that she’s talking about 21 years of age being when people STOP doing this – meaning that it probably starts long before the age of consent.

Speaking in tongues and oracular flailing is absolutely part of the business at many real life Pentecostal churches. As far as the drugs, who knows – it could just be moonshine, as was implied, and that’s not a far step from a standard communion, though it was certainly enough to get him drunk.